Valve for tank cars and the like



Jan. 26 l926.

s. J; NRDSTROM VALVE Fon TANK ons qplgx'ms LIKE Filed August 28, 1922 ySheets-Shogi 1 l////W//l/l//l//l//l//l//l/lll/lllllllllllillllllllllllll Jaim. 26 w26.`

s. J. NQRDsTRoM VALVE Fon "rAuxcAns AND THSLm- Filed Aggst' 2a, 1,922

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Jan.; 2s, 1926. 1,570,62ff4 S. J. NORDSTROM VALVE FOR TANK CARS ANDTHIKE Filed August 28; 1922 5 Sheets-Shet :s

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'UNITED 'SpA'TESS 3 SVEN TDHAN NORDSTROM,

AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

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- applicano; mea mgm 2s, 192s. serial mj. 584,618.

tion.

The invention relates to an improvement intvalves for-tank` cars `andthe like.

The drainage valves'of tank cars is located in -the bottom of tlfe tankand is provided with a `stem which' extends upwardly through th'e andterminates in a handle within the dome. By reason of the iexibility ofthe tank and consequent'buckling as the car rounds a curve and becauseof theimpurities andforeign substances contained in thepil,

carried. by the tank, great diiiiculty has hitherto been experienced inpreventing they valves from leaking. In fact, so far as is known, Vnocompletely satisfactory valve has, yet been designed for tank carservice.A There are two types of tank car valves in.- common use. Thefirst is a flat, circular disc which seats in a beveled circular hole inthe bottom; 'of the' tank. As the contents ofthe tank drain out, aportion of the dirt and other sediment contained therein lodges on xfthe valve seat and when the valve is closed this prevents the valvefrom making a tight 'closure- Hence when the cap is removed from thedrainpipe projectile;` downwardly from the bottom of the tank, there isalways a waste of oil, gasoline or other liquid.

- The second common type of valve for tank` car service is a plug valvespecially adapted for the purpose. These plug valves, as heretoforeconstructed, have been even more unsatisfactory fortank car'service thandisc valves, for the reason that it has been imi possible .to lubricatethem until thecontents of the car have' been drained olf. This lack oflubrication results Ain the plug valve becoming; stuck orffrczen in itsseat. When this occurs, the `efforts to loosen the plug cause thecontactingsmetal to' strip and thereafter the valve lea l Thearrangement of the valve parts inthe bottom of the tank hashefetoforeproven uni satisfactory, because when 'the downwardly iprojecting drain pipe hasencouutered some f valve is inplace andgasoline or other lading/ v{zi-ated in obstacle whereby it has been bentor broken, the stress to which the pipe-is vsubjectedis usually suicientto distort the bearing or seating surfaces of the valve,.and this in site ofthe fact that grooves have been provided in` the drain pipe Oneobject of the present invention is to produce a" tankcar valve of theplug tytgm 1 which may be readily lubricated while e 05 while the tankis full of liquid. A. further object of the inven- 'tion is to produce atank'car valve which,

when it is stuck or frozen to its seat, may be readily Vlifted therefromb means located in the dome at the top of t e tank.' Another object ofthe, invention is to 2so arrange theL valve parts inthe bottom of thetank that "any vstresser shock to which the drain pipe is subjected willnot b e communi- I cated tothe bearing or seating surfaces ofV thevalve.

Still further objects ofthe inventionfwill bepointed out as thedescription proceeds. With these objects in view, the invention consistsin the improved plu 80 valve for tank cars hereinafter 'describe andparticularly pointed out in the appended. claims.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated inthe accompanyingdrawings,

in which Fig. 1 is a` vertical section of a portion of a tank carshowingthe improved valve-applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlargedsectional detail of the means for compressing the lubricant to lift thevalve Vfrom its seat; Sto 'inclusive are enlarged detail views of thevalve andf associated arts shown inliig. 1'; Fig. 3 is a longitudinesec- Vtion through the valve casing; Fig. 4 is a A section of the upperpartei the valve; Fig. g is-a top plan, partly. in' section, Naive; Fig.6 is a section takenon the line of the 6 6 of Fig. 3; and. Fig.' is atcp plan of the valve andV djacent parts ofvthe tank.

The improved Fig. 1, comprises avalve casing 12 located in the bottom ofthe 4tank 13, and a plug or valveproper 14 seated nin a vertical, ta redbore in' the valve casing. The casing is provided with an elbowlos shaed passageway l'therethrcugh, having an inlet 16 opening into theinterior'of the tank, and an outlet opening 17 which registo cause itltobreak 60 easlly wlthout transmitting the strain to the tank car '-valve,as illus- 100.

' cap 19.

level with the toaom of the tank.

ters with the usual drain pipe 18. The open lower end of the drain pipeis closed by the As usual, Athe upper end of the drainpipe 18 isprovided with a circumferential groove 2O so that the pipe may breakoft' without communicating the stress or shock to the valve parts. Toprevent any possibilit of the valve parts becoming strained by reason ofdamage to the drain pipe, the present invention contemplates a novelconstruction by which the valve parts are locatedv in the bottom of thetank. To this end, a plate 22 is provided, having a smooth upper surfaceupon which the bottom of the valve casing 12 is adapted to rest. Agasket 23 is interposed between the two contacting surfaces to insure atight joint. The valve casing is secured to the plate 22 by means of capscrews 24. It will be observed that the plate 22 is dish-shaped and thatthe bottom of the valve casing is inserted inthe dished portion of theplate so that the bottom 26 of the hole 27 through the valve plug 14 andthe bottom of the in: let opening 16 of the passageway through the valvecasinor are substantially flush or Thus there vis a complete drainage ofthe contents of the tank. The upper outwardly projecting Harige 28 ofthe plate 22 is secured to the shell of vthe tank by means of rivets 29.This construction facilitates the caulking of the joint between theflange 28 and the shell of the tank.- The flanged up er end 30 of thedrain pipe 18 is secured y studs 31 to the thickened ortion 32 of p ate22. It will be observed t at the above described construction is suchthat even if the drain pipe 18 does not break at the groove 20, the hoekor stress cannot be communicated to the bearing or. seating surface ofthe valve.

The valve plug`14 is arranged to be turned through an angle of 90degreesto open and close the valve. The plug is shown in the drawings inclosed position. To manipulate the valve plug, a hollow stem or pipe 35is provided extending frommthe plug vup through the tank and terminatingin the dome 34. v The lower end of the stem 35 projects into the recess36 formed in the upper. end of the plug 14 and is bifurcated to looselyembrace the lugs 37 l projecting radially into the recess 36. The upperend of thestem 35 is embracedv by a head 38 which receives ithe innerend of the handle .39 by which the valve plug is manipulated:

and the bolt 40 secures the handle 39 in the head 38. In order that theplug may be turnedthroughan are of only 90 degrees at each manipulation,al stop. pin 42 is adapted to be engaged by the. ends of the `arcuateslots or grooves 43 formed in the upper surface of the Secured iny aplate 44 plug. Thev in 42 is astened to t e upper aardse? lubricated, orin case it should be struck or frozen thereto, by the means to bepresently described. v

So far as 'is known, it has not been proposed heretofore to provide tankcar valves v of the plug, type with means for lubricating them from thetop of the tank., vTo facilitate the introduction of lubricant into thebearing surface of the valve, means located -at the top of the tank areprovided to lift the plug from its seat. rlhe lifting of the plug may.be accomplished by two means: (l) by fluid pressure; (2) by mechanicalaction. In the preferred form of the invention, the valve plug is liftedfrom its seat by Huid pressure. This is effected by utilizing the meansfor lubricating the valve. A chamber is providedbetween the valve plugand the casing and the lubricant is forced into the chamber and putundersuflicient pressure to lift the plug from its seat. The compressionchamber may be located either in the bearing surface of the valve orunder` the valve plug.'J For mechanical convenience, the latterarrangement is preferred. The conduits by which the lubricant isconveyed to the compression chamber may be variously located, either inthe casino` or in the, body of the valve plug, but preferably vin thebearing surface lof the plug. These grooves 52'communicate with thecompresl v 55 adapted to rece1ve thescrew 56, by turning whichjthelubricant in the'pipe 54 is forced down` into the lubricating grooves 52set screw 57 holds the pi e 55 in place. By

and into 4the compression chamber 55. A I

means of thescrew 56t1e lubricant in the a pipe 54 and the compressionchamber 55 may be put under sulicient pressure to lift the valve plugfromits seat.y This mode of `operation 1s set forth inomy Reissue PatentNo. 14,516, reissued August 27, 1918. By

turning the screw 56 when the handle 39 is manipulated, the bearinsurface of the valve may be kept lubricated and thereby prevent thelikelihood ofthe plug becoming stuck or frozen in its seat. Moreover thelubricant forms an effective seal and also revents dirt and foreignsubstances from odging in the seat and causing the valve to leak. v

-Having thus described the invention what I claim to be new is:

1. A valve for tank cars and the like comprising a casing located in thebottom of the tank, a plug seated in the casing, a lpipe eX- tendingfrom the plug upwardly through the tank for containing lubricant,channels in the bearing surface of the plug connected with the pipe,means for forcing the lubricant from the pipe into the channels, ahollow stem enclosing the pipe and extending from the plug upwardlythrough the tank, and a loose connection between the lower end of thestem and the upper end of the plug.

2. A valve for tank cars and the like comprising a casing located in thebottom of the tank, a plu seated in the casing, a hollow stem exten ingfrom the lug upwardly into the dome at the top o the tank, cooperatingmeans on the bottom of the valve stem and the top of the plug making aloose joint between them,a handle connected with the stem formanipulating the plug, a reservoir for lubricant consisting of a pipelocated within the valve stem, lubricating channels in the bearingsurface of the plug connected with the pipe, a chamber in the casingvunderthe plug, and means for forcing the lubricant through the channelsand into the chamber tothereby lift the plug from its seat.

3. A valve for tank cars and the like comprising a casing located in thebottom of the tank, a plug seated in the casing, a hollow valve stemconnected with the plug and exi seated in the casing and having atending upwardly into the dome at the top of the tank, a handle formanipulating the plug, a pipe located within the valve stem, lubricatingchannels in the bearing surface of the lug connected with the pipe andmeans or forcing the lubricant in the pipe into the lubricatingchannels.

4. A valve for tank cars. and the like comprising@ casing located in thebottom of the tank, a plug seated in the casing, a flexible diaphragmfor yieldingly holding the lug in place, a hollow valve stem extendingom the plug into the dome of the tank for turning the plug, a pipelocated in the hollow valve stem, adapted to contain lubricant,lubricating channels in the bearing surface of the plug andcommunicating with the pipe and means for forcing the lubricant into thelubricating channels.

5. A valve for tank cars and the like comprising a casing having apassageway therethrough with an inlet opening into the interior -of thetank and substantially iush with the inside surface of the bottom of thetank and an' Outlet discharging through the bottom of the tank, a plughaving a solid bottom seated in the casing and having a hole adapted toregister withthe inlet opening, a plate adapted to be secured to theunderside of the tank for supporting the valve casing within the tank,and a drain pipe secured to the underside of the'plate.

6. A valve for tank cars and the like comprising a casing having anelbow-shaped passageway therethrough, the inlet of the passageway beingsubstantially Hush with the inside surface of the bottom of the tank,and the outlet of the passageway discharg-4 ing through the bottom ofthe tank, a pllug ole adapted to registerwwith the inlet opening, andmeans for supporting the valve casing in place in the bottom of thetank.

SVEN JOHAN NORDSTROM.

